Maternal Wisdom
by shineyma
Summary: "How do I stop?" A Chalek-flavored rewrite of the conversation between Chloe and Meredith in Beautiful Day. :: Now continuing into a rewrite of the rest of the episode.
1. Chloe Explains

Title: Maternal Wisdom

Author: Shineyma

Summary: "How do I stop?" [A Chalek-flavored rewrite of the conversation between Chloe and Meredith in Beautiful Day.]

Characters: Chloe King, Meredith King

Spoilers: The whole series, I suppose, but especially Responsible and Beautiful Day. Some of the lines are taken directly from Beautiful Day.

Word Count: 1,529

A/N: So, this is the first thing I've posted in a long, long time. We're talking years. Lots of them. So I'd love to hear what you think, but please be gentle.

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><p>"Um, I think I'm in love with Brian," Chloe confessed softly. "But I—I don't wanna be. I don't wanna be in love with him. How do I stop?"<p>

Meredith sighed. "That's a tough one. Some things you just can't control. You love who you love."

Chloe released a shaky breath. That was pretty much the last thing she had wanted to hear.

"What is it?" Meredith asked, taking Chloe's hands. "Why don't you want to love Brian?"

Chloe looked down at their joined hands. How to explain? Even if she could tell her mother that she was Mai, and that kissing Brian would kill him, that wasn't the only reason she didn't want to love him. The biggest, sure, because she'd already caused one death and couldn't bear the thought of causing another, but not the only reason.

"Alek," she eventually admitted. "I don't want to love Brian because I want to love Alek."

Meredith leaned back a little, looking confused.

"That's a bit of a sudden change," she said. "You wanna tell me why?"

Chloe looked away.

"Uh, you're gonna be late," she said.

"I have time," Meredith said, squeezing her hands. "I always have time for you. C'mon. Why do you wanna love Alek?"

"Alek—Alek's better," Chloe said simply. Then she shook her head, annoyed. "That didn't come out right. I just…"

She tried to think of a way to put into words exactly why Alek was a better choice, and what he meant to her—preferably without mentioning their shared Mai-ness, his protective habits, and the whole 'saving her life' thing.

"You know last week," she said finally. "When Alek, Amy, Paul, and I went out to a movie?"

They'd done no such thing, of course, but that was the excuse she'd come up with to explain her absence while searching for Vanessa. She'd told her mom that her friends were taking her to see a movie to get her mind off of things.

"Yeah," Meredith said, nodding. "I remember."

"We were hanging out at the coffee shop, waiting for it to be a little closer our movie time," Chloe began. "Alek said something really sweet, so we were kinda having a moment."

Despite the mood she was in, Chloe couldn't help smiling slightly as she remembered Alek's words. 'I could tell it was important to you.' The knowledge that he had chased a car across town—on foot, no less—just because it was important to her had filled her with a strange, giddy feeling. She'd had no idea how to express the feeling to Alek, but she had wanted to so, so badly. Telling him he could be sweet sometimes was completely lame, compared to what she was feeling, but the circumstances (and Brian's interruption) had prevented her from elaborating.

"Then Brian showed up," she continued. "He wanted my help with something. He just asked for ten minutes, so I figured it was no big deal. I told Amy and the guys that I'd be right back and we went over to the store to talk."

That was being a little vague, but she wasn't about to go into all of that with her mom, especially since her mom had somewhere to be and was definitely going to be late as it was.

"While we were talking, Alek came to get me because it was time for the movie. He grabbed my arm to get my attention, and Brian freaked out about it."

"Freaked out?" Meredith echoed, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"He told Alek not to grab me like that. Alek told him it wasn't any of his business, and Brian…" Chloe trailed off, recalling the complete horror she'd felt. She'd warned Alek against hurting Brian—she'd never thought to warn Brian against hurting Alek.

"Brian?" her mom prodded.

"Brian shoved him," Chloe said simply. "Alek shoved him back, and then—then Brian punched him. I could tell Alek wanted to hit him back. Of course he did. But I told him not to, and he didn't."

Meredith just looked at her, sensing that there was more.

"Alek's not exactly the type to back down," Chloe said, biting her bottom lip. "But he did. Not because he couldn't take Brian, or because it wasn't a good time for it. He backed down because I asked him to."

She cleared her throat.

"Brian apologized and I forgave him," she explained. "But I can't just forget it. And it's just one of a million reasons why I'd rather be with Alek—why I'd rather _love _Alek. I just…don't know how."

She'd managed to control the urge to cry while telling her mom about the 'fight' between Brian and Alek, but it was coming back now that she was back to thinking about her dilemma.

Meredith was looking at her thoughtfully.

"I noticed that little smile you got when you told me you were having a moment with Alek," she said. "How did you feel when you were talking to Brian about whatever he needed your help with?"

Chloe thought back to Brian's hopeful face as he excitedly told her about the letter from his grandmother. That day had been such an emotional roller coaster that she couldn't remember exactly how it had felt to hear that Brian had finally found a clue. She'd been happy for him, of course, but…

"I don't know," she admitted, confused. What did that have to do with anything?

"Was it important?" her mother pressed.

"Yes," Chloe said immediately. "Very."

"Do you really want my opinion?" Meredith asked after a moment of thought.

"You have no idea how much," Chloe said.

"I think that if you ever did love Brian, you're already falling out of it," Meredith said gently. "You looked very happy when you were telling me about Alek, but when you were talking about Brian, you didn't look much of anything. I bet if I asked you, you could tell me exactly how you felt when Alek said whatever it was that was so sweet."

That was true, Chloe admitted to herself. Hadn't she just been thinking of it? That weird, bubbly feeling—she was even feeling it a little right now, just recalling the moment.

"Do you think I love Alek?" Chloe asked, confused. If she loved Alek, why was she still so attached to Brian? Why did everything with him matter so much?

"No, sweetie," Meredith replied, shaking her head. "I think you care a lot about Alek, but falling in and out of love isn't like changing clothes, Chloe. You can't just take off Brian and put on Alek. You need time. It doesn't matter how well or how badly a relationship ends. When it's over, you need time to heal from it. You can't move right on."

Chloe swallowed. Was that really it? Was that why she was so dedicated to helping Brian? She hadn't had time to heal from him?

No, she thought suddenly. Helping Brian find out what had happened to his mother had nothing to do with whether or not she was in love with him. She'd do the same for any of her friends. But she'd been so sure it was love. How could she know what she felt for Brian or Alek if her feelings were so confused? And if she wasn't in love with Alek _or_ Brian, how come she could remember so clearly the way she'd felt with Alek but not Brian?

Chloe was emotionally exhausted. After all the drama of the day, it would have to be enough just to admit to herself that she didn't know _what_ she felt. She could accept that. There was always tomorrow. And she was definitely through talking about it.

"Okay, you're really late," she said to her mom.

"I can cancel," Meredith assured her, looking worried.

"No," Chloe said, shaking her head. "It's a big deal. You need to go. Me and my heart will be fine. I'll just head up to bed."

Meredith looked at her intently and then smiled a little.

"You're amazingly resilient," she said, then leaned forward to kiss Chloe's cheek. "Goodnight, Chloe."

"Night, Mom," Chloe returned softly as her mom got up and left.

Chloe spent a few more minutes sitting at the counter. Her mother's words were bouncing around her head, mixed with her own thoughts on Alek and Brian. Finally, reminding herself that she was done for the night, she stood up. She glanced at her phone. She knew that she should text Amy, but she was so exhausted that she didn't think she'd be able to coherently recount the discussion with her mom.

She eventually slipped her phone into her pocket and headed upstairs, thinking longingly of her bed. It wasn't really all that late, but all she wanted to do was sleep.

She pushed the door open and froze. Alek was in her room, sitting on her bed, looking at her with an unreadable expression. How long had he been there? She licked her lips, trying to think of something to say. Alek was strangely silent for once.

Apparently she wouldn't be getting to sleep yet after all.


	2. Alek Reflects

Title: Maternal Wisdom

Chapter Title: Alek Reflects

Author: Shineyma

Summary: "One of these days you're gonna hear something you won't like." [Sometimes Alek speaks prophetic words.]

Characters: Alek Petrov

Spoilers: The whole series, I suppose, but especially All Apologies, Responsible and Beautiful Day. Some of the lines are taken directly from All Apologies and Beautiful Day.

Word Count: 1,771

A/N: I really wasn't going to write another chapter, but Alek wanted to have his say. There will probably be two chapters after this.

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><p>Alek was frozen. The world was spinning out from under his feet. He felt that at any moment he would be knocked off balance and thrown…thrown where? Hopefully somewhere far away. He wanted to be anywhere else, but he didn't think he could move.<p>

He was absurdly reminded of his own words, spoken—how long ago? Weeks? Months? Time was so difficult when he was with Chloe: sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow. But he remembered saying it to her, remembered the skeptical, annoyed look on her face. '_Be careful. One of these days you're gonna hear something you won't like.'_

He wondered what expression was on her face now. Her voice had been strangely quiet when she'd spoken the words he'd been most dreading. _'I think I'm in love with Brian.'_ She'd continued speaking, but he couldn't hear her over the strange roaring in his ears. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't _feel_ anything. An assassin could come right in through the window behind him and he might not even notice.

That thought pulled him out of his daze. Regardless of his feelings, he had a job to do. He couldn't protect Chloe when he was stuck in his own head. He tuned back in to the world around him and found that Chloe was still speaking. How long had he been lost in his head? He realized that at some point he'd sat down.

"_You're gonna be late."_

"_I have time,"_ Chloe's mum replied. "_I always have time for you. C'mon. Why do you wanna love Alek?"_

Wait. What? He was now completely confused.

"_Alek—Alek's better."_ Well, yeah. _"That didn't come out right. I just…"_

Sounded fine to him, but it sure didn't help his confusion.

Alek listened as Chloe began to recount the events (or at least a highly edited version of the events) of the night the previous week when they'd had to save her friend Vanessa. Hearing Chloe's recollection sent him on his own journey down memory lane: the effort of chasing that bloody car all the way downtown, only to find it empty, grabbing everything he could find then running all the way back to the coffee shop, the look on Chloe's face…

Watching Chloe's expression change from confusion to amazement had given him an undeniable thrill. It was made even better by her compliment. It hadn't exactly been a confession of utter devotion, which certainly would have been preferable, but compliments from Chloe were rare enough that being called sweet had filled him with warmth.

Then Chloe's human had interrupted. She'd gone off with him, and Alek had been left with her friends to try and find out where Vanessa was going. Initially he had only cared because Chloe did, but figuring out that the girl was about to be a victim of human trafficking had been horrible. He'd become immediately invested, and it only intensified when he heard their time limit.

He'd rushed over to the store, Amy and Paul behind him, and found her looking over some sort of papers with the human. He'd grabbed her arm for her attention, telling her they had to go.

And once again the human had to interrupt. Chloe had tried to calm him, but he'd dismissed her. He'd told Alek to get his hands off of Chloe—as if he had any right—and then he'd shoved him. Alek had shoved right back, naturally, and had been rewarded with a punch.

That had made him angry. Very, very angry. This—this _human_ dared to hit him? When Alek was so much faster, better, stronger? He'd been ready to show the human exactly what he was messing with when Chloe said his name. Just his name, a sharp _'Don't!'_ and a shake of her head. He'd been reminded of their earlier conversation, when he'd made a comment about ripping the human's pretty little face off. Chloe had told him that if he ever hurt the human, she'd never see or speak to him again.

He backed off. The chance to hit the human wasn't worth losing Chloe, although they would definitely being having a talk about his right to defend himself later. He'd been surprised, and pleased, when Chloe rounded on the human. His pleasure had been somewhat abated at the human's words. He'd thought Alek was hurting her? How _dare_ he?

Alek loved Chloe. It felt like he had loved her forever. He'd been drawn to her from the moment he first saw her, his first day at school after moving to San Francisco from London. He'd avoided her, of course—he'd thought she was human, and there was no point in getting close to a human. But, in his infatuation, he hadn't been able to stop himself from showing off a little near her, trying to get her to look at him.

That hadn't always worked so well. Mostly her friend Amy stared at him, while Chloe rolled her eyes and looked away. Then there was that day—that amazing, wonderful day—when she'd seized the basketball from his hands and thrown it all the way down the hall and into a trash can. He'd have been happy enough just having her talk to (yell at) him, her beautiful eyes flashing, but to discover the possibility that she was Mai?

He'd cornered her in the hall later, had touched her and smelled her, and he hadn't been able to resist the urge to kiss her. He knew it was a bad idea, since they weren't entirely sure if she actually was Mai, but if Jasmine hadn't interrupted, he would have.

Since that day, he'd gotten to spend time with her, to speak to her, to stand next to her, and even to touch her, and Alek's infatuation with Chloe had grown quickly to love. It was his sworn duty to protect her, but even if it hadn't been, he'd have laid down his life for hers—no matter that she had many and he had only one. He loved her, and that was that.

So to hear this _human_, this human who had dared to speak to Chloe, to touch her and laugh with her and actually _date_ her, accuse him of hurting her was enough to enrage him once more. But Chloe hadn't even bothered to address the claim. She'd told the human to get out, and he had. That had brought his elation right back, and they'd gone to save her friend without speaking anymore about the human.

The memory of fighting against those human traffickers was a pleasant one, as well. They'd worked so well together, fighting back to back, using each other for balance and as springboards. It had been amazing, and it had taken all of his strength not to kiss her once they'd locked the creeps up. But he had been uncertain of where he stood with her, and hadn't dared.

Hadn't dared. Hah. Chloe was the only one he had ever backed down for, the only one he ever _would_ back down for. It was ridiculous, really, almost embarrassing. But he'd comforted himself with her obvious enthusiasm for seeing a movie with him, and the memory of the smile on her face when he'd left her the flowers.

He was pulled out of his recollection by the sound of a throat clearing. He started, expecting to find someone in the room with him, but realized after a second that it was Chloe, still downstairs with her mum.

"_Brian apologized and I forgave him." _Why was that, exactly? She probably wouldn't forgive him so easily for the same thing. _"But I can't just forget it. And it's just one of a million reasons why I'd rather be with Alek—why I'd rather love Alek. I just…don't know how."_

One of a million reasons? Really?

Alek was feeling a little like a yo-yo at the moment. He couldn't keep track of how fast his emotions were changing. Hell, he couldn't keep track of _Chloe's_ emotions. She loved Brian, but she wanted to love Alek. Why couldn't she, then? It would be so, so much easier—so much _better_—if she would just love him.

_"I think that if you ever did love Brian, you're already falling out of it,"_ Chloe's mum was saying. _"You looked very happy when you were telling me about Alek, but when you were talking about Brian, you didn't look much of anything. I bet if I asked you, you could tell me exactly how you felt when Alek said whatever it was that was so sweet."_

Well that was encouraging. Alek was filled with a sudden fondness for Chloe's mum. It sounded like she was on his side.

"_Do you think I love Alek?"_ Chloe was asking. She sounded so confused, and although he would definitely prefer that she was sure about her feelings for him, he couldn't help but smile as he recalled the face she made when she was confused. It was sort of adorable.

Then he shook himself out of it. Just because he loved her was no reason to be a sap.

_"No, sweetie."_ What? Was she on his side or not? _"I think you care a lot about Alek, but falling in and out of love isn't like changing clothes, Chloe. You can't just take off Brian and put on Alek. You need time. It doesn't matter how well or how badly a relationship ends. When it's over, you need time to heal from it. You can't move right on."_

Time, huh? Chloe had said she needed time, he acknowledged. And he supposed, if she was falling out of love with the human, he could give her more. Hell, if it ended with her in love with him, she could have all the time in the world.

He heard Chloe's mum leave, and considered leaving as well. But he wanted to talk to Chloe. He wanted her to know that he'd heard, and that he'd give her as much time as she needed. So he sat there, on her bed, listening as she stood up.

What would he say to her, he wondered as he heard her start up the stairs. Would she be angry that he had listened? He knew that she got annoyed sometimes when he followed her. Maybe it had been a bad idea to stay. She was in the hall still. He had time to leave.

But he needed to let her know that he'd give her time. So he stayed right there as she pushed the door open and entered the room.


	3. Halliday Theatre

Title: Maternal Wisdom

Chapter Title: Halliday Theatre

Author: Shineyma

Summary: There was really no way to stop Chloe from doing stupid, reckless things…aside from maybe knocking her out. [Going to the Halliday Theatre is a bad idea, but when has that ever stopped Chloe?]

Characters: Alek, Chloe, Jasmine

Spoilers: The whole series, I suppose, but especially Beautiful Day.

Word Count: 1,273

A/N: So, this is not the second-to-last chapter. This has been sitting on my hard drive for more than two weeks, and I just haven't been able to write anything else. I feel bad about leaving you to wait, so I'm giving you what I have. I have no idea when the next chapter will be out. There will probably be two more chapters after this one.

Also, thank you SO MUCH for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. The reviews especially mean a lot to me. Gratias tibi ago.

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><p>Chloe was startled to see him, Alek noted. They'd need to have another talk about situational awareness. But it could wait. For one thing, she looked completely exhausted. He stood up and moved towards her.<p>

"Alek," she said, looking a little uneasy. "How long—What did—Were you—?"

She broke off and shook her head, apparently unable to decide on a question.

"I was just coming to check up on you," he said, stepping closer still. "Jasmine's got a date tonight, so I'll be watching."

"Oh," Chloe said weakly, looking at him almost suspiciously.

He took a final step forward. He was standing close enough to kiss her now, and for a moment he wanted nothing more. But he looked at her, saw how tired she was, and reminded himself that he was giving her time. So instead he rested his hands on her shoulders, leaned forward, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"You can have all the time you need," he said simply. "You just let me know."

Even the brief contact of kissing her forehead was enough to send a rush through Alek. It was amazing, how addicted he was to her. She was just standing there, looking up at him, and his heart was racing. Ridiculous.

"Thank you," she said after a moment, exhaling heavily. "I—"

The chiming of her phone cut her off, and she stepped back from him to pull it out of her pocket. Alek frowned as he watched her. There was a strange look on her face, one he'd never seen before. It was a shocked sort of horror. She touched the screen briefly, and a hopeful smile appeared briefly on her face.

"Chloe?" he asked.

"I," she paused and licked her lips. "It's from my dad. He wants to meet."

Alek shook his head, confused. He'd never heard Chloe speak about her father—he'd assumed that the man was dead.

"He wants to meet?" Alek echoed.

"Yeah," Chloe said, crossing over to her desk and opening a drawer. She pulled out a bundle of construction paper, and Alek watched, puzzled, as she opened it like a book. She was smiling again, a disbelieving smile that made him fairly suspicious.

"Chloe, what is going on?" he asked as she put the paper back in the drawer.

"I have to go," she said instead of answering, moving to the door.

"Wait," he said, stepping to block her way. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's happening."

"I'm going to the Halliday Theatre," Chloe said impatiently. "To meet my dad."

"And what's so important that you have to go to an abandoned theatre in the middle of the night?" Alek demanded, grabbing Chloe's arms as she tried to get past him.

"It's a long story," Chloe said, looking at him pleadingly. "But I _have_ to go."

Alek sighed. There was really no way to stop Chloe from doing stupid, reckless things…aside from maybe knocking her out. For a moment he was tempted, but then he took another look at her. When she'd walked into her room, she'd looked completely exhausted. She was still exhausted—honestly he was a little worried she would fall unconcious all on her own—but her eyes were lit with a desperate hope. He knew that if he stopped her from going, she would never speak to him again.

He should put her safety above her feelings for him, he knew. It was his _duty_ to protect her. But, he reasoned, if he knocked her out, she would never trust him again. He needed her to trust him in order to do his duty. So he couldn't stop her with force…and there was no way he would be able to talk her out of it. The only thing he could do was follow her and do his best to protect her.

"All right," he said. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

Chloe opened her mouth to protest, and Alek shook his head.

"It's not up for debate," he said, letting go of her to pull out his phone. "I'm coming with you and I'm calling Jasmine to meet us there."

"Fine, whatever," Chloe said. "Just _hurry_, would you?"

Alek hit the speed dial for Jasmine's phone and was surprised when she answered almost right away.

"What's up?" she asked, sounding tired.

"Chloe's about to do something foolish," he informed her. "Are you still on your date?"

"No, I'm on my way home. I got stood up," Jasmine explained, sounding depressed. Then his first sentence seemed to register. "What's she doing?"

"Apparently meeting her father at the old Halliday Theatre," Alek said, although he made a mental note to track down Zane and have a chat with him later. "Meet us there?"

"Will do," Jasmine affirmed.

They hung up their phones without goodbyes, and Alek turned to Chloe, who was bouncing impatiently near the door.

"Come _on_, already," she said insistently.

Alek shook his head, unable to believe that he was going along with this nonsense.

"Rooftop's faster," he said, indicating the window. "Since you're in such a hurry."

Chloe nodded and darted to the window.

"Let's go, then!" she said, even as she climbed out to the roof.

Alek followed fairly reluctantly. Valentina was really on to something with all her talk of emotional detachment. If only he didn't love Chloe, it might not be so hard to see her in danger. Of course, she was the Uniter, the hope of their people…Everyone got worried when she was in danger. He snorted. The truth was, he _was_ in love with Chloe. There was no changing that. It was pointless to think about what could have been.

As they set off across the roof tops, Alek noted a car pulling up in front of Chloe's house. It was Brian, he realized. He wondered what the human wanted. More of Chloe's time, presumably. It was with a stab of vicious pleasure that Alek returned his attention to his path. The thought of the human hanging around, waiting for Chloe's attention, and eventually leaving unsatisfied was a pleasant one. Perhaps that made him childish.

Oh, well. Everyone had flaws.

CAAC

When they reached the Halliday Theatre, Chloe paused. She'd kept up a fast pace the entire way to the park, but seeing the building seemed to freeze her in her tracks. Alek looked at in consideration. Aside from being ridiculously creepy, it was also big. Too big. There was no way he could do a full sweep of the building, and no hope of blocking off all the exits.

In other words, it was the perfect place for a trap. Even with Jasmine (who he could hear approaching from the other side of the park), their chances of getting out of a trap alive and unharmed would be miniscule. He was already wishing he had just knocked Chloe out and had done with it.

Chloe started to move forward, and Alek grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said.

Jasmine appeared around a corner, and she looked just as apprehensive as he felt. But he knew there was no stopping Chloe, who was tapping her foot anxiously as Jasmine reached them.

"Now can we go in?" Chloe demanded.

"Me first," Jasmine said after exchanging a look with Alek.

"My dad said come alone," Chloe protested.

"Chloe," Alek said, much more calmly than he felt. "It's our way or no way. This could be a trap."

Chloe looked ready to argue, then deflated.

"Fine," she muttered.

So the three of them headed into the theatre, Jasmine in the lead and Alek bringing up the rear.


End file.
